


This could be the drug that doesn't bite

by lysanderwarrior



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Friendship, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reserve Course (Dangan Ronpa), Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 03:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20128831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lysanderwarrior/pseuds/lysanderwarrior
Summary: It's simple, you get a tattoo, you find the owner, you fall in love.Thank god the students of Hope's Peak Academy are here to make things more interesting.





	1. Starting off

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya, this story will focus on multiple characters and ships, which means different povs almost every chapter and multiple storylines going on at the same time! Just a warning because if you're here for just one ship, uhm it won't exactly be that simple-
> 
> Anyways, uhhh enjoy!

The mark on the back of her neck had been tingling an awful lot lately.

It wasn’t to an extent where she couldn’t focus on anything else, but when Mukuro was doing what she often did in class, just sitting there and observing her classmates having fun together with nothing else to put her attention on, the mild burning sensation was about to take over her mind.

No one was looking, so Mukuro reached her hand towards the back of her head, brushing hair out of the way so she could touch the skin with a pair of black initials printed on it. Her dear sister Junko had told her what the two letters spelled, and the mirror had confirmed her words. So Mukuro had a soulmate, great. The only problem appeared to be that she didn’t know anyone with such initials.

From all of the people in Hope’s Peak Academy who she was aware had found their soulmate already (not a lot of people had, actually), a big majority had found it from their own class. Mukuro glanced towards Aoi Asahina and Sakura Oogami, the Ultimate Swimming Pro and the Ultimate Martial Artist, trapped in a warm embrace with each other as they spoke to Makoto about whatever-

Makoto.

Mukuro had really wished the short, sweet boy’s initials would have been the ones to appear on the back of her neck instead of what she actually got. Makoto was so kind and loving towards her, always smiling when their eyes met and being almost the only boy who didn’t find her neither indimitating nor a threat, at least to her knowledge. She had had hope for her and the boy even, before she got her mark about a month ago.

Did Makoto have his yet? No, that boy couldn’t keep secrets for the sake of his own life. Mukuro would’ve found out already if that was the case. When he would eventually get it, it’d probably mark the initials of Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective… Those two spent a lot of time together, and Mukuro could recognize that Kyoko had a crush on Makoto even through her stone-cold facade. The way the tips of her ears turned red instead of a regular blush, the way she smiled only around him-

Makoto’s eyes met Mukuro’s from across the room. Immediately, he shot her a warm smile and a lazy wave before Mukuro hastily turned her gaze away. She shouldn’t let her thoughts distract her from her surroundings, that kind of thing would end up with her dead if she were at war.

Now that she was pushing the thoughts of Makoto and her own soulmate out of her head, she could clearly sense and hear the pair of heels hitting the floor in a running motion behind her, the person wearing them ready for attack. In any other case, Mukuro would’ve slid off of her seat to avoid the attack, or at least catched her by the wrists to stop her, but this person wasn’t a threat.

A pair of arms were wrapped around her shoulders in a rather_ rough _embrace, but Mukuro smiled at the sight of sharp, bright red nails landing on her shoulders and squeezing with the hug. Junko Enoshima, her sister and her… well, her only female friend, was hugging her.

_ “Mukurooo! _ I like, totes missed you,” she laughed, and the sound was music to Mukuro’s ears. Junko let go of her and threw herself on the chair beside Mukuro’s, looking so flawlessly perfect when she landed on it. “I’ve got some _ juicy _details for you, sis!”

“H-hey, Junko,” Mukuro smiled at her, all of her attention focusing on her dear sister.

“So, I did some snooping...” She flicked one of her ponytails behind her shoulder, a mischievous smirk playing on her face. 

A few people from their class were gazing in their direction, but Mukuro knew it was only because of Junko. She herself was very boring, monotone, bland, meanwhile Junko was… Junko was perfect, interesting, pretty, confident… She was everything Mukuro was not, so how could someone not look at her?

“Hey, hey, do I have your attention or not?” Junko pouted, furrowing her brows and crossing her arms over her uniform-coated chest.

“Oh- yes, of course!”

She flashed her most genuine smile at her sister, which made her speak up; “Good, because you really want to hear this,” Junko giggled to herself, “Apparently this one student from the reserve course has been transferred to the 77th class or whatever, and like, he’s super duper mega hot!”

Mukuro blinked. Sure, Junko had the assets to seduce and get every person she wanted, but to her knowledge, she had never had a crush on anyone. In fact, she rarely even spoke about people she found attractive.

And… he was from the 77th class? Mukuro had two friends in that class, surprisingly enough, and neither of them had mentioned any new students. Then again, those two were nowhere near ordinary people who would spill all the gossip right away.

“I dunno all the details, _ yet, _but apparently he’s like… the Ultimate Hope? And god, I know I’m not a basic lovesick girl or anything, but I’d smash that so quick,” Junko continued whilst inspecting her nails.

“...Why are you telling me this, Junko?” it was her turn to furrow her brows. Was Junko trying to get a boyfriend? And an upperclassman, at that? And… a guy who had a talent so odd as hope? Had she finally gotten her soulmate mark, and did it fit this new student?

“Right, I almost forgot the major part!” her sister laughed almost terrifyingly to herself, now having moved on to twiddling strands of her hair between her fingers. “Obviously, sis, I’m telling you all this because his name is_ Izuru Kamukura! _ It’s like, the same name as the founder of Hope’s Peak or whatever!” She looked euphoric, grinning with her teeth showing.

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. “Izuru… Kamukura?” 

Was she supposed to be aware of the name? Did she know the person from before? Almost unconsciously, her fingers sneaked back up on the two small letters under her hair on her neck, and she was surprised to feel the burning sensation more persistent than before. 

_ Oh. _

Izuru Kamukura, also interpreted as _ IK, _ the initials of his name, the very same initials that were decorating the back of her neck right at that moment.

“You don’t mean…”

“That’s exactly what I mean!” Junko screamed out, voice filled with mischief and joy, and heads turned to look in their direction yet again. She lowered her voice to keep even a small part of Mukuro’s privacy, well,_ private, _“Your soulmate is a smoking hot upperclassman, sis!”

Mukuro was… not sure how to react. So, it was that easy? Finding your soulmate? Was she now supposed to meet him and fall in love, _ just like that? _ She fought off the urge to glance in Makoto’s direction, knowing fully well that MN and IK weren’t the same thing.

_ “Hellooo?? _ Are you just gonna sit there, or are we gonna go stalk their class?!” Junko called out, looking rather impatient all of a sudden. “Come on!”

And just like that, Mukuro was yanked out of the class by Junko, the latter running down the hallway in heels with her hand cuffed around Mukuro’s wrist. She didn’t enjoy the feeling of letting someone control her moving like that, but it was Junko.

“I-isn’t class going to start soon?” Mukuro asked in a desperate attempt to go back to her class, to her seat.

  
“Screw class, this is your future we’re talking about!”

Before long, they were on the closed classroom door of the class 77-B. Mukuro had visited her two friends in their homeroom about _ never, _and now she was going to try and stalk one of the students inside of the room who might possibly be who she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with?

“So, ready to see what your future looks like?”

Mukuro imagined what her possible soulmate could look like. She’d imagine someone taller and in a better shape than her, although her conditions were rather unfair for a person carrying the title of the Ultimate Soldier and with the one guy she had previously liked being shorter than her. Nevertheless, maybe… brown, spiky hair? Something she could ruffle with her hands and make it even worse than before? Some pale eyes she could stare into forever? A ridiculous sense of style with a hoodie and a jacket layered on top of each oth-

Okay, now she was just describing Makoto. That had to stop.

Junko grinned before sliding the classroom door open just a bit, careful not to make any noise.

The classroom was nothing special as they peeked in, the same as their own with just different posters on the wall, and different students. Mukuro recognized few of them, like Nagito and Gundham, obviously, and… no, she recognized all of them, except for one student.

In about the middle of the class, at one of the desks, a tall boy stood out to her. He had long dark hair, longer than she had ever seen anyone have, probably longer than Mukuro herself. A strand of it covered the middle of his face, only leaving out the two narrow reds in the place of his eyes and revealing the shape of his jaw. He wasn’t wearing an uniform either, just a suit. Well, not_ just _ a suit, since it was a lot more formal than their school uniform, and it seemed to be tailored just for him with the way it fit him like a glove. Perhaps he was from a rich family, though that was a must when you attended the reserve course. 

The boy seemed to be staring off to space, yet it still looked like his attention was fixated on something, like he knew what he was doing. He looked like the complete opposite of Makoto, so much more serious, so much more mature, so much… like someone she’d never seen before, someone _ unique. _

He had to be the new student, Izuru Kamukura.

“Soo… what d'ya think?” Junko chimed in with a suppressed giggle. “Husbando material or _ what?” _

Mukuro’s cheeks flushed red as she turned to look at Junko again. Husband material? She had just seen him for the first time, no one could judge someone based _ entirely _ on that.

“I- I mean, sure, he’s pretty attractive-”

“Then what are you waiting for? Go get him!” her sister grinned, and just like that, the door had been slid all the way open and Mukuro had been pushed in.

Junko was strong (was there anything she _ wasn’t?), _ and she managed to push Mukuro rather far in the classroom. She would’ve stumbled on the floor (and in a skirt, out of all things) but she succeeded at gripping the edge of one of the desks on her way and stop her body from flying off on the floor. Her knees didn’t even hit the ground as she pulled herself up straight with the help of the convenient desk.

Once she got up and looked down, a pair of glowing red eyes stared back at her, just a tad bit annoyed. Something tingled at the back of Mukuro’s neck when their eyes met.

“Ah, sorry!” Mukuro let her hands fly up in the air as she took a step back, just perfectly missing the other desk behind her. Call it instincts, or something.

The boy barely acknowledged her apology, turning his gaze to stare off into space again without saying anything, hair flipping as he turned his head. How rude, he could’ve at least laughed it off to make it less awkward for both of them.

Should she… try to talk to him? That was the whole purpose of her coming into the room, right?

“...Um, hi, my name is-”

“Mukuro?”

Her name was called from behind her, and Mukuro turned around to see who it was, even though she already recognized the voice. She met eyes with one of her friends, Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Luck, the one who got into the academy through the annual lottery.

Mukuro glanced back at the boy before her, _ Izuru Kamukura, _who had not moved at all. He wasn’t planning to do so either, that much was certain. A whole earthquake or a tornado probably wouldn’t get him to move either, he looked so set in the position he sat in. She ignored the urge to roll her eyes and turned back towards Nagito.

The boy was about to get up from his seat, but Mukuro spared him the trouble of probably tripping on the floor and somehow winning the lottery at the same time by just walking over to him. She’d surely get the chance to talk to the other boy later. 

Besides, there was no actual proof he was her soulmate, a lot of people have the same initials, it’d be ridiculous to just decide that _ he _ was the one without even knowing if he had her initials… right?

“Mukuro, what are you doing here?” Nagito asked once she had reached his seat, “And… why were you talking to Kamukura?”

So that _ was _ his name.

“Oh… no reason…” Mukuro mumbled, scratching the back of her neck, just and just missing the inked spot. “I just wanted to say hi to you,” not her best lie, but she’d rather not reveal it all in the middle of a classroom, especially when Nagito’s classmates were looking at her because of her grand entrance.

“That’s so kind of you!” the boy pretty much beamed at her with the power of way too many suns. Next thing she knew, his smile faded. “Uhm… Mukuro, if you don’t mind, can we meet up during lunch? Along with Gundham? I need to tell you guys something.”

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. Nagito barely ever wanted to talk about himself, unless he was degrading himself for no reason at all. “Don’t we… meet up almost every lunch?” 

The pale boy before her sighed. 

“Sorry, go on!”

“It’s pretty embarrassing so, uh,” Nagito chuckled, running a hand through the fluffy cloud that was his hair, “If you don’t mind, I’d rather tell you alone. Since… you’re my friends and I doubt anyone else is interested in the lives of someone like me, _ hah.” _

“That’s fine,” Mukuro nodded, deciding that it wasn’t worth it to argue against him. “I actually have something to share too, so-” she glanced to her side, towards the door of the classroom, meeting eyes with a more than exasperated Junko, impatiently tapping her foot against the ground. Right, Junko hated Nagito, and vice versa.

“Oh, your sister is here?” he asked, glancing at the door. “I don’t wanna keep you occupied with someone like me, so, you can go ahead!”

“Yeah…” Mukuro glanced once more in the other direction, towards the mysterious Izuru Kamukura, who was not paying any attention to her and Nagito, not that she expected him to. Usually she was good at reading people, but this guy… the only thing you - or anyone, _ really _ \- could tell was that you shouldn’t mess with him.

“I’ll… see you at lunch, Nagito.”


	2. Go get punched for the love club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first sentence sums it up nicely.

Shuichi Saihara was screwed.

There was no other word for it, he was absolutely wrecked, he was going to die, he was going to let the whole entire ground swallow him whole so he wouldn’t have to face anyone anymore, he was- going to have a panic attack in the school bathroom.

Maybe he should calm down. Yeah, that sounded like a good option.

Shuichi inhaled, held his breath, and exhaled. He did so once, twice, three times, until he could feel his heart rate return to something resembling the average. That was good, now he had some leverage for when he was going to unbutton his shirt for about the fourth time that break, just to make sure what he was seeing was actually there.

The bathroom door was jammed with the key he had ̶s̶t̶o̶l̶e̶n̶ borrowed from the teacher’s desk (the individual bathroom stalls did not have mirrors, which should’ve been a crime in Shuichi’s situation) so Shuichi was free to unbutton his whole jacket, followed by the three top buttons of his dress shirt.

His whole… situation had started a few days ago, although he must’ve been blind during those days since he only noticed the severity of the situation today. Technically, he had noticed it before, but back then it had just been a single letter decorating his collarbone. According to his uncle (and Kaito, but if Shuichi were a teacher, Kaito would be as trustworthy as Wikipedia) it was normal to just get one initial at first and have the second appear later. That’s why Shuichi wasn’t alarmed when the small  _ K  _ first appeared on his collarbone, especially because it was in such a pleasing handwriting and looked rather fitting on his pale skin. But this - this definitely wasn’t normal.

Shuichi looked over his now exposed clavicles, first at the right one, as that was where the letter had appeared at first. Next to the K, there was another letter of the same font, an A. Okay, yeah, that’s what most people had. Not the same initials, of course, but just one pair of them. _ One  _ pair. Shuichi moved his gaze to the area between his collarbones, the… sternum? It didn’t really matter, since the thing that caught his attention were the initials on it, MH (at first he mistaked it for HM because of the reflection, but thankfully he realised the correct order afterwards), both in a different font, but still really neat. 

Yes, usually (more like never) people didn’t get two pairs of initials on their body, as the letters are supposed to guide you to your soulmate. Soulmate, singular. Not soulmates. But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

Shuichi could think of the possible candidates for the bearers of the initials. KA, for the beautiful, positive, intelligent and cheerful girl in his class. MH, for the reserved and quiet, yet very intimidating, strong and powerful girl, also in his class. Shuichi didn’t…  _ hate _ pretty girls, not at all, but… 

His gaze moved to his left collarbone, and when the vivid letters K and O entered his vision, Shuichi wanted to scream. He had looked at them multiple times already, yet the shock was nowhere near wearing off.

KO could fit only one person he knew, who had also recently been acting very weird around him. The mischievous, frustrating, clever boy in his class, the liar, the class clown, he had multiple nicknames, but all of them still meant him.

Shuichi- he happened to be aware that he felt attraction towards boys as well, but… now he was supposed to like this specific boy? On top of two girls? This couldn’t be normal, could it? He must’ve been sick, or maybe he was in a coma. Maybe he’d wake up and there’d only be one pair of initials on his body.

Yeah, Shuichi was going to close his eyes, count to three, and when he opened them he’d only have two letters on his collarbone. Or maybe he should have none, because he wasn’t sure he was ready for the responsibility of a soulmate yet, and… he wasn’t sure which ones he would’ve wanted to stay.

Eyes closed. One. Two. Thr-

The buzzing of his phone in his pocket interrupted Shuichi, and he had to open his eyes in order to check the notification.

It was from Kaito, Shuichi’s best friend, and… the boyfriend of the girl whose initials Shuichi presumed were located on his body; his body, not Kaito’s. God, this was awful. He had already managed to avoid the boy for the entire day, even during classes, but Kaito hadn’t gone to the length of actually texting him until now.

_ “shuichi ya can’t avoid training forever, meet me in the gym for lunch!” _

He couldn’t just go work out with Kaito and pretend nothing was wrong, right? Shuichi was not a good liar by any means, in fact, he got flustered and sweaty really easily whenever he tried.

_ “lunch = now, meet me now!!” _

Well, he couldn’t just ignore Kaito now that he had viewed the messages either. Escaping the country or crying himself to sleep didn’t seem like an option either, so Shuichi just decided to succumb and agree to meet Kaito to train with him.

He pulled his shirt back on his shoulders, followed by his jacket, doing all of the buttons to cover the ink decorating his pale skin. At least the skin on his chest was pale, since his face was red and flustered even though he hadn’t even faced Kaito yet. What was he going to do…?

Maybe, just maybe, he’d survive through it without any complications. After all, it wasn’t exactly his fault that the tattoos had appeared on his body, right? He couldn’t control whatever was happening to him.

Suddenly, a thought entered Shuichi’s mind. The marks on his body meant that… each of the three people had his name too… right?

Oh god.

He had been so busy avoiding a quarter of his class that he didn’t even realise almost all of them could be in the same situation he was in. If the initials really belonged to them, that is. How had he not even thought about that? Did all of them have three names as well? Were they stressing out as much as he was? 

Shuichi’s mind was about to enter another panic attack, his throat tightening around him and his breaths getting heavier, when someone tried to open the bathroom door rather forcefully. It startled him, sending him jumping back into one of the stalls.

“Why’s this thing locked?”

“Those damn budget cuts, I told you things were getting worse at Hope’s Peak, now they’re even limiting our toilets.”

“...Come on, let’s just go find another one.”   
  


Shuichi heard two pairs of footsteps leaving the door, and he peeked out of the stall. His mind was a mess, his damn collarbones were a mess and his best friend was waiting for him in the gym. He just- he had to get himself together, train with Kaito, and maybe pay attention if the possible people marked on his chest were as nervous as he was.


	3. Disenchanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends being friends.

“Here’s a good spot.”

Rantaro flopped down on the edge of the rooftop, letting his legs swing over the edge. Korekiyo and Maki followed behind him, although a bit reluctantly.

“Do you think Tenko will find us here?” the anthropologist left trapped in the middle of their row asked, pulling his bag on his lap to dig his lunch out of it. “We did not even mention we were leaving without her.”

Maki rolled her eyes as she pulled her knees to her chest instead of hanging them off the edge. “Is there a place she won’t find us?” she snickered which was rather unusual of her. “When she wants to talk about Himiko, she’ll find anyone, no matter what it takes..”

“Come on, be nice,” Rantaro chuckled, already having his salad in his hands. “Yeah, she can go a bit overboard sometimes, but she’s still our friend.”

“Biggest mistake of our lives,” the only girl present sighed as she shook her head.

Korekiyo let out an amused laugh as he pulled something - neither of his friends were actually sure what the food was, since he always brought something new and foreign each day - out of his bag and unwrapped it, most likely to eat it.

“Oh? Are we finally gonna see you take off that mask of yours, Kiyo?” Rantaro teased with a crooked smile, nudging the boy beside him.  _ “Hell yeah, _ give us a show of those luscious lips of yours!”

“God, I’m trying not to barf here,” Maki groaned, still holding onto her knees as she sent a nasty glare in Rantaro’s direction.

“I apologize that my lips make you so nauseous, Maki,” Korekiyo nodded apologetically, although both of his friends knew that he was joking, “I’ll make sure they’re never brought up again.”

“Thank you.”

Both of the boys began eating their lunch as Maki just sat there, looking off to the skyline before them that was the premise of Hope’s Peak Academy. In all honesty, climbing up to the roof was forbidden, but since they were Ultimates, no one actually cared. It was kind of sad really, almost never getting into trouble. Though, their first year in the academy had barely started, so there was plenty of time.

“Guys!” a familiar yell echoed behind them, and no one had to even look over their shoulder to recognize that the voice belonged to Tenko Chabashira, the fourth member of what someone could call their friend group.

“And I left my headphones in our homeroom,” Maki sighed with as much disappointment as one could manage. At the same time, her phone vibrated audibly in her pocket, but she ignored it completely.

A familiar figure flopped on the edge beside Maki, a grin and a blush decorating her face as she squirmed in her place, excited about what one could only assume to be Himiko, Tenko’s long time crush even before any of them started going to Hope’s Peak.

“Guys, guys, you won’t believe this!” she began, voice reaching way too many decibels to be safe to be around.

“Oh, I’ve seen a lot of things during my days, so I doubt that,” Korekiyo commented before Tenko could continue, hoping to calm her down a bit. “But please, do continue.”

“I think we  _ all _ have seen some shit during our days, Kiyo,” Rantaro chimed in with a laugh and his years old references, and who could forget his finger guns. Thankfully, everyone was already used to this and pretty much ignored him.

Tenko sighed. “Yeah, I guess, but listen! My wrist has been itching like there’s no tomorrow  _ all  _ day, so-” Maki’s phone vibrated again, this time going ignored as well - “So, that means that a soulmate tattoo could appear there soon, right?”

No one responded, leaving the rooftop in an awkward silence.

_ “Well?” _

“...I think you just have a rash,” Maki commented without an expression, earning a chuckle from one of the boys, probably Rantaro. “Maybe you should see that Mikan girl for that.”

“I mean, you don’t have one so you wouldn’t know,” Tenko pouted, this time holding back her urge to yell. Probably because she was talking to another girl now. “It could be Himiko’s initials appearing there… we can’t know until it happens.”

Rantaro smiled in the lazy way he always did, like there wasn’t a worry in the world. “Guys, isn’t it funny how none of us four have gotten our soulmate tattoos yet?” he chuckled, apparently having given up on his salad as he leaned back on the roof with his elbows.

“It is not that uncommon. I’m not sure anyone from our class has it yet,” Korekiyo shrugged. He was also finished with his lunch, although none of them had noticed him actually eating it (the rest of their friend group had created a bet that the first person who was to notice Korekiyo actually eating something would win two thousand yens, yet no one had somehow witnessed it yet).

“I guess me and Himiko will be the first ones then!” Tenko smiled proudly, throwing her hands on her hips. “And Maki and-  _ uh- _ what’s-his-face can be the second pair-”

“First of all,” the masked boy interrupted, “it is Himiko and _ I, _ and second… do you seriously  _ not _ remember Kaito’s name?”

Tenko was about to speak up, when Maki’s phone buzzed yet again.

“Maki, who are you trying to ignore so bad?” Rantaro asked, glancing at the girl from behind Korekiyo’s back.

She sighed, admitting defeat as she pulled her phone out. Shaking her head, Maki replied; “What’s-his-face, sadly.” She typed in a reply, but no one could see what either of the assumed texts said.

“Trouble in paradise?” 

“Seriously? You’re so lucky to actually get to date your soulmate beforehand, you can’t just let that go!” Tenko insisted, nudging Maki. “Even if your soulmate is someone as dumb as, uh…  _ Kiibo _ , right?”

“I  _ just _ told you his name-” Korekiyo started, but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and shut up as Rantaro snickered yet again in the background. The green-haired boy sat up again, this time leaning closer to Korekiyo and grabbing a strand of his hair.

“Can I braid this?”

“Of course-”

“Guys, focus!” Tenko snapped her fingers, brows furrowed.

“There’s- there’s nothing to focus on, I have to go,” Maki cut in, scooting away from the edge so she could stand up without looking any of them in the eye. “Kaito wants to train with me.”

“You didn’t even eat anything-” Rantaro commented before stopping himself. He looked as though he was contemplating something, before looking up at Maki with a smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to eat Kaito, if you catch my-”   
  
“That’s a dollar for the degenerate jar!” Tenko interrupted with the yelling everyone had already gotten used to. “Gross!”

“We do not even use dollars-”

Maki sighed, picking her bag up on her shoulder as she prepared to leave. “Have fun talking about… soulmates, or whatever. Enjoy not having one while it still lasts.”   
  
And with that, the Ultimate Assassin was gone from their view without warning. All the others looked back as the door to the rooftop slammed shut, before slowly returning to looking down from the roof, down to the campus of their oh, so luxurious academy.

“She was talking like she already has a soulmate…” Rantaro observed as his hands kept busy in Korekiyo’s hair. “Is she keeping something from us?”

  
“Hm, perhaps she and Kaito are keeping the news down low,” the other boy mused.

Tenko, although reluctantly, scooted closer to Korekiyo in order to participate in the conversation as well as before. She sighed, crossing her arms.

“I’d never keep the news down low if Himiko and me got each other’s initials!”

“Himiko and  _ I-” _

“Come on, Tenko, it’s only lunch. Save some gay for the rest of the day,” Rantaro chuckled as he finished the braid with- with one of the million hair ties he had on his wrist, underneath the sleeve of his uniform.

“Says the male with his hands caressing another male’s hair,” Tenko scoffed. “And, for your knowledge, if someone as adorable as Himiko ever got into your eye, you could not stop talking about her!” she insisted before shutting up, glaring at Rantaro in a rather eerie way, “Don’t you dare steal her.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” he assured her as he ran his fingers through Korekiyo’s hair one last time before returning to his earlier place at the edge. “Not really my type.”

  
“Well, good! Because she definitely is mine!”

Korekiyo frowned, or at least it sounded as though he was a bit sad. “This will be a long rest of the day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd really appreciate if y'all left some of your thoughts of the story so far in the comments :'))


	4. Everything will glow for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito, Gundham and Mukuro talk about their soulmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I don't take constructive criticism on my dr friend groups

Gundham was walking rather fast in front of Mukuro and Nagito, leading them up to the rooftop like it was the end of the world. Once they got there, to all their surprise, a few underclassmen were already sitting at their usual spot at the edge of the roof, just some students none of them knew. How curious.

Curious enough for Gundham to march right over to the poor kids, apparently. Mukuro and Nagito shared a look as they expected the three Ultimates to get scarred for life by this strange man mumbling on about his massive empire (yes, this had happened before, yes, kids did get traumatized).

“You mortals, move over,” Gundham’s icy tone could be heard as the three unsuspecting teens turned their heads around.

Nagito chuckled softly beside Mukuro when they walked up to Gundham, ready to calm him down if necessary.

“Hey, we were here first!” the only girl of the group scoffed, throwing daggers at Mukuro’s friend with her eyes. Yet, Gundham didn’t even react. “Get your own spot, degenerate!” she tried again, but the older boy didn’t move.

“Move, or I fear I must send my four Dark Devas from the Underworld after you,” he continued nonchalantly, as if what he was claiming was an everyday thing to say. “Ha, they love destroying pathetic worms like you for lunch.”

The three teens eyed each other skeptically, before finally gathering their belongings and more or less running away from the scene. The shorter of the two boys mumbled something about Gundham being straight from Dungeons & Dragons when he passed Mukuro. She couldn’t bring herself to disagree.

“Oh, Gundham?” Nagito chuckled as all of them got seated at the edge of the roof. “I didn’t expect you to be so harsh, haha.”

“That is precisely why you will not make it far in life, you mustn’t bow to the weak,” the other of the boys smiled rather smugly, his arms crossed. “Besides... the Dark Devas enjoy the view.”

“That’s... surprisingly pure,” Mukuro commented, crossing her legs instead of hanging them down like the boys did. She was… still bothered by the new boy in her friends’ class, but decided she wouldn’t be the one to speak up first. “Nagito, didn’t you have something to tell us?”

The boy looked a bit caught off guard by that, freezing in place. It took a second, but quickly he was laughing softly again, waving his hand through the air as though he was brushing it off.

“Right, that! I didn’t expect you to remember anything I say, Mukuro,” Nagito smiled, and if Mukuro had regular human emotions she would’ve been hurt, but she didn’t, so understanding what Nagito meant was quite easy for her. In fact, all the three of them understood each other well, which was probably the biggest reason they all became friends in the first place.

The boy continued, straightening his right leg in the air and leaning towards it so he could roll up the hem of his trousers, “I noticed it a few days ago, but… I couldn’t believe I was actually worthy of getting one at first.” Nagito looked as though he was going to start crying in the matter of minutes, his smile so gentle and honest as he revealed his ankle under the fabric of his trousers and sock.

Mukuro was a bit surprised to see the letters H and H decorating his ankle almost right above the bone, but the way he was talking before had already hinted that something serious was up. 

Hm, _ HH, _ looking like someone had scribbled the letters in a rush, or maybe the person had just sloppy handwriting. Mukuro’s tattoo looked almost like it was written on a computer, but Nagito’s didn’t. The fact that someone’s personal handwriting was actually on Nagito’s skin seemed a lot more… personal, and Mukuro did not want to admit that she might’ve been jealous.

“H and H? Do you know anyone who has those initials?” she asked instead, not showing the pout desperate to climb on her face. No, she was happy for her friend. Even if her own tattoo probably belonged to a boy who had almost completely ignored her, and… who wasn’t Makoto Naegi.

Nagito frowned a bit, shaking his head, “No idea. But, I won’t lose hope yet! I’m sure I’ll find them soon!” The familiar smile appeared back on his face, and Mukuro couldn’t help but smile back. “I sure hope it will be a guy, though… hah, if it’s not then that will be quite awkward for me.”

Gundham laughed in the background, but instead of laughing at what the other boy had just said, he was smiling to himself. “Hah, it seems as though you have finally joined us immortals on the other side, Nagito, I must congratulate you,” he smirked, and both of the other teens fell silent. Gundham… he had mentioned getting the initials of Sonia Nevermind (on his wrist, in the most beautiful cursive imaginable) before, but he had never actually done anything to approach the princess.

“Oh? Have you finally talked to Sonia?” Mukuro asked, a smirk creeping up on her face as well. “I remember you telling us you’d do it soon.”

The poor boy went blank, face turning red faster than anyone could say the word ‘soulmate’. He tugged his scarf to cover the lower half of his face, avoiding the others’ gaze. “I… My Dark Queen has been busy lately,” he mumbled quietly, the tips of his ears burning with crimson.

“Wow, once I find the unlucky person who is destined to be my soulmate, Mukuro, you’ll be the only one from our group who won’t be anxious every single day,” Nagito laughed, hair bouncing along with his head as he did.

Mukuro blinked. “Actually,” she started in a monotone voice, “I have met my soulmate, I’m pretty sure of it. He’s Izuru Kamukura.” And without waiting a second, she turned her head away from both of the boys and wiped the hair off her neck, revealing the tattoo to fresh air and everyone’s eyes. She looked at it through two mirrors about… every single day, and although the clean letters were nice, she would’ve preferred something… more connecting. After all, not even someone called the Ultimate Hope could write like that on a daily basis… right?

She almost got lost in her thoughts (why was Izuru doing this to her?), but soon she noticed that some time had passed and neither of the boys had replied anything. Finally, she turned back around and let her hair fall back on her neck.

“Well?” Mukuro raised an eyebrow at both Nagito and Gundham, both of them looking either dumbfounded, or shocked, or both. 

“Mukuro…. hm, I must admit… you’ve gotten yourself in quite the mess,” Gundham finally spoke up, sounding awfully honest and serious to Mukuro’s liking. “Kamukura, he… he defeats the powers of even the greatest of gods without any effort.”

She… wasn’t sure she understood.

“I think what Gundham is trying to say here,” Nagito stepped in to help, “is that Izuru… he has every single talent. Even a talent as pathetic as luck, he has it, and his luck is way more powerful than mine. He can do _ anything _ and everything, and… I don’t know if someone with such amazing powers can really feel anything… I’m sorry, Mukuro…”

Oh.

That… was a bit hard to process, especially when Mukuro would’ve preferred someone like Makoto, who was always affectionate towards everyone. So, turns out she might have a rock for a soulmate. Well, at least they would both be emotionally incapable rocks together.

“Hm, are you certain he is your one and true destiny?” Gundham asked.

“I’m… not sure how you can be certain,” she mumbled, gazing down from the roof. “When I saw him, it felt… weird, but… kind of right, I guess? I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say.”

“Foolish mortals… When you know, you know, it’s that simple,” he shook his head with a laugh, and Mukuro saw one of his hamsters snuggling against the crook of his neck when his head moved. 

“Well,” Nagito tried to give an encouraging smile to the girl, “Whatever happens, I hope all of us get to live happily ever after.”

“Seconded.”

“Thirded.”

  
“I don’t know if that’s a word, Gundham-”


	5. You better run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A training session between the oh so awesome friends, Shuichi, Kaito and Maki.

Well… when Kaito had forced Shuichi to workout with him, he expected the usual: push ups, sit ups, all the kinds of ups that existed. He… did not expect Maki to show up. And judging from the shocked reaction she displayed when their eyes first met in the gymnasium, the feeling was mutual.

“Alright, guys!” Kaito called out, grabbing both Shuichi and Maki by their wrists to pull them close to one another. “Today we’re gonna do something different, alright? We’re going to do a relay.”

Ignoring the way his cheeks were already turning red, Shuichi swallowed and turned to look at his friend. “A… relay? By ourselves?” He tried his best to not look at the girl standing beside Kaito, but he couldn’t help but wonder… where her tattoo was. After all, if she seemed so baffled at the sight of him, she must’ve gotten it, right?

“We’ll we can’t just compete with other teams without practicing first, right?” Kaito laughed as he wrapped his arm around Maki’s shoulders, pulling her way closer than necessary. “We’re going to just do a few basic rounds, I run first to the other end of the gym and back, then Maki does the same, and Shuichi, my pal, you will go last.”

As though Shuichi wasn’t already stressed enough.

“Wh-what? But I’m a slow runner!” he whined, voice cracking in more than an embarrassing manner. Thankfully, the only people present were his best friend and… hah, Shuichi’s soulmate. No big deal. Not at all, he wasn’t definitely on the brink of panic again. 

“That’s why you gotta practice, man! Geez, haven’t you listened to any of my pep talks?” his best friend groaned with a roll of his eyes. “Anyways,” he continued, nudging his head towards the bright plastic cone at their feet, which Shuichi had of course not noticed before, “We’re gonna start right here, and there’s another one of these at the other end.”

“Shouldn’t we warm up first or something?” Maki asked, and those might’ve been the first words he had heard from her all day.

“We’ll get warm while running the first time. You both ready?”   
  


It wasn’t as though their protests would have made any difference, so both Shuichi and Maki just nodded their heads. Sure, Shuichi’s stamina wasn’t anything to brag about, but a few laps wouldn’t kill him, and… hopefully the girl now standing next to him as Kaito got in his place beside the cone wouldn’t kill him either.

“Maki, do the honors?” Kaito went as far as to kneel into the position professional runners did before sprinting off in competitions. 

With a sigh, the girl spoke up, “Three, two, one… go.” If someone had ever sounded less enthusiastic as Maki did just then, Shuichi hadn’t heard it.

Nevertheless, Kaito sprinted away, and, damn, he was fast. He must’ve been faster than anyone in their class, reaching the other end of the gymnasium in no time, pace not slowing down even as he made his turn. Shuichi felt awkward just looking at it, but… now that he was alone with Maki for a brief moment, maybe he could… talk to her?

“Uh,” he took a step closer to the girl, trying to meet her eyes, “Maki? I wanted to ask you-”

“Don’t.” She didn’t even do as much as look at him as she took her place beside the cone, easing her knees just enough for it to be easy to run off. “There’s nothing to ask.”

Oh. So it was going to be like that. Well, Shuichi couldn’t exactly blame her for that. He was most likely even more nervous than Maki, even being able to feel all the three marks burning against his chest under his shirt.

Kaito returned, hitting Maki’s extended hand in a high five as a mark that she could run as well. And run she did, her pace probably even faster than Kaito to both their surprise. It felt as though… she was running away.

“Shuichi, my man,” Kaito was out of breath, each word he said needing a separate breath. Shuichi turned towards his best friend, raising an eyebrow and acting as though he wasn’t nervous in the slightest. “Bro talk, what… what do you think of me and Maki?”

“H-huh?” 

Had Kaito learned the truth already? Had Maki told him at some point? 

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean? As a couple, obviously!” he sighed, shaking his head. He continued, “We’ve been together for months now, and… do you think it’s possible we’re soulmates?”

Shuichi blinked. “Oh, uh-” he glanced back towards Maki, noticing that she was now running back, and it was almost his turn. “Sorry, I- have to get to my place,” he smiled in a rather awkward manner as he stepped next to the cone, holding up his hand.

Kaito definitely didn’t make him feel any better. The boy was head over heels for his girlfriend, who again was not destined to be with him. Well, she could be with him, but… according to _ everyone, _ the only relationship that ever lasts is the one with your soulmate. 

And Shuichi had three. 

Suddenly, he was awoken from his thoughts with the approaching sound of someone running, and next thing he knew Maki was right beside him, her hand going in for the high five to send him on his way.

But when she did, the moment their hands connected a piercing pain shot through Shuichi’s body, blooming and burning from the skin between his collarbones and from his left palm, the one Maki’s hand had almost frozen to. It spread through his entire body like daggers, like he had just been stabbed everywhere with pure fire or as though something giant had just crushed him, his vision going white as suddenly it felt impossible to keep standing up.

So he collapsed on the floor, and from somewhere close to the back of his head, he heard another thud that did not escape from his body hitting the ground.

“Guys?!” Kaito yelled out, and his voice seemed to wake Shuichi up from the incredible pain. “What the hell is going on!?”

The boy sat up, opening his eyes that he had at some point closed, just to realise all the hurt was gone, like it had never been there in the first place. Well, his side did hurt a bit, but that was probably from hitting the floor straight on. Looking across the room, across the empty gymnasium, he noticed Maki already standing up from beside him, her face drained out of all the color it used to hold. She must’ve felt it as well.

“Hey, Maki Roll, maybe you should stay down!” Kaito exclaimed, grabbing his girlfriend by the shoulder as if she was going to collapse any minute again. “You both have been acting weird all day, you’re probably sick or something! Or- or dehydrated, or-”

“I’m fine, Kaito,” the girl mumbled, clenching her hands into fists, “I just lost my balance for a moment.”

“But-”

While the couple argued about whether Maki was okay or not, Shuichi took the time to stand up, feeling a bit lightheaded but otherwise fine. Even though it had felt like he was burning alive, there was nothing marking with his skin, especially on his palm where the pain had started, along with… the spot of skin where Maki’s name was located.

“Uh- actually, maybe we should both go to the nurse… Maki?” Shuichi suggested quietly, afraid of the reaction the girl might give. He continued, a bit more confident, “I- I wouldn’t want you to be hurt, or anything. Better to make sure… right?”

Maki looked at him, narrowing her eyes and staring so deep into his eyes he was sure she was seeing his soul by now. “Whatever,” she finally sighed, taking a head start and beginning to walk towards the gymnasium door.

Meanwhile, Kaito frowned, patting Shuichi rather softly on the back.

“Take care, buddy. You can skip training tomorrow.”

And by now, even if the odd collapse of his didn’t hurt anymore, the guilt he was heaving on his chest sure did. 

“...Thanks, Kaito,” Shuichi just nodded, like the coward he is, and walked after Maki.

  
  
  


_________

  
  
  


“Hey, Maki, wait up!”

The girl was really fast, like she had ran at the speed of the wind the minute she had left the gymnasium. In fact, that’s probably precisely what she did.

Yet, she was kind enough to stop so Shuichi could jog up to her, a sheepish smile on his face as he did.

“What do you want?” Okay, not the words he wanted to hear the most when facing her alone for the first time, but it could be worse. At least Maki wasn’t threatening to kill him yet, and Shuichi took that as a positive.

“I just- what happened in the gym just now-”   
  


“Wasn’t my fault,” she sighed, crossing her arms impatiently. “I’d appreciate if you left me alone.”

Shuichi felt as though starting any kind of conversation with her would lead to nothing right now, so he decided to just give up. “Can I… at least see it?”

From her expression, a hint of surprise in the way her eyebrows and eyes softened for a second, she knew what he meant. She looked around, checking that the empty hallway they were in was indeed empty, before grabbing his wrist with a sigh and pulling him along. Surprisingly enough, this time the contact didn’t hurt anymore. Was it normal for the first time touching the other to hurt…?

Maki led Shuichi around the corner, behind a pair of stairs where any passerby was very unlike to see them if they weren’t looking. He was about to speak up, when the girl suddenly dug her thumb under the waistband of her skirt, tugging the fabric down from one side.

“Maki, what are you-” Shuichi’s entire being froze when he spotted the letters SS decorating her hip, both written in Shuichi’s handwriting. It was clear and plain, but it was his without a doubt. He swallowed, feeling wrong for making her show it all of a sudden as he looked back up at her, not sure of what to say.

“Well?” she arched an eyebrow, impatient. “What about you?”

“R-right!”

Shuichi began unbuttoning the top buttons from his jacket, then the shirt underneath. Realising he might seriously be dead if Maki was to see the other two initials, he only pulled his shirt open a few inches, enough for her to be able to see her own initials and, well… look rather shocked for her usual self.

Maki coughed, taking a step away from him. “I hope you’re happy. Kaito will hate me.”

“Wait- what do you mean?”   
  


“I… I can’t lie to him,” she frowned, like actually properly frowned for probably the first time during her time at this school. “He deserves the truth, right?”

Shuichi’s eyes widened, knowing Kaito would most likely kill him once the truth came out. “W-wait! Can’t you… wait a little longer?” he pleaded. He didn’t know how his suggestion would make things any better, but he wasn’t ready to face Kaito’s anger yet.

Maki glanced down at her feet, thinking as Shuichi buttoned his shirts back up.

Finally, she looked back up and sighed, “Fine, but I’m not promising anything, I- the guilt is killing me...”

Oh, if she only knew about the two other names Shuichi was carrying on his chest.

“Y-yeah… me too.”


	6. What a lucky day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto is having a hard time in class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sudden break and a short chapter, I've been busy with school :'))

Makoto had been almost sure he was the only one who attended homeroom anymore. You know, since he doesn’t actually have a talent he could practice, not like his other classmates do.

But, turns out he was wrong, since this morning the classroom was packed, for whatever reason the others had to actually show up. And when Makoto said packed, he meant _ packed. _ Even Junko Enoshima showed up, and he had barely seen her attend class since school began in April.

Now, Makoto was seated at almost the back of the class - a bad thing for him since Sakura Oogami was sitting in front of him, and, well… Makoto wasn’t exactly the tallest student in the class - and he was nervously fiddling with his pencil, spinning it between his fingers. He had no idea why his nerves were on edge, but they were, and it was affecting his ability to stay focused. It didn’t help that Sayaka and Leon were whispering something behind him. He liked both of them, he did, so he had no idea why he was getting this frustrated over something so small.

His eyes travelled back to the front of the class (or, to Sakura’s back) where the teacher was explaining something, and Makoto was interested, he really was, but focusing right now felt impossible, so he let his eyes wander the class. He spotted Kyoko, his best friend of a long time, focusing on her studies as always. Yasuhiro, preparing something illegal on top of his desk, his hair bobbing up and down as he moved. And, turning his head to the right, Makoto locked eyes with a pair of piercing blue ones, glasses hiding their true ability to shine behind.

And then they were gone.

Huh?

Had… Makoto just catched Byakuya Togami looking at him? It couldn’t be, the heir either didn’t show up to class because he was ‘saving our futures with his corporation’ or never paid attention to Makoto because he was so plain and normal. But no, now he had definitely been staring at Makoto, and in the middle of class out of all things. Someone as valuable as him would never drain his time like that.

Makoto tried, but in the span of five minutes, Byakuya did not turn around to look at him again. He didn’t really expect for the other boy to repeat his action, but it just felt so strange, Makoto wanted to see it again.

Byakuya… he didn’t talk to Makoto a lot. In fact, lately he had began avoiding the boy even more than before, and the lucky student had no idea what he had done wrong. Well, probably anyone who had ever upset the heir had no idea what they had done wrong.

He would’ve enjoyed being friends with Byakuya, as much as with anyone, but there wasn’t really anything Makoto could do to get someone as stubborn as him to change his opinion about someone.

With a sigh, Makoto turned back to face… Sakura’s back, the pencil in his hand still tapping against the desk between his fingers. Kiyotaka - sitting not too far from him - must’ve been about to lose his mind because of that, he should've probably stopped. And Makoto did, stopping the continuous movement he did with his fingers and dropping the pencil on the desk.

_Huh?_

Something black was peeking from between his fingers, decorating the side of his middle finger. Did the pencil leave a mark on it? It shouldn’t have. Makoto parted his fingers fully to see how bad the damage was… and froze.

Two letters, written in black ink - and in cursive, like a signature - were very much present on his finger. It wasn’t even that part that shocked him, no, he knew this was going to happen eventually, but he… he didn’t know_ this _ was going to happen. Makoto expected for it to spell the name of one of the sweet girls in his class, like Sayaka or Kyoko or Mukuro… or even Celestia, if it came to it, but not this.

Makoto’s eyes shot back up to his right, just in time to see a flash of blue eyes turning away from him. Lowering his eyes to gaze at his fingers, the initials BT still stared back up at him, clearly not a figment of his imagination as he could feel a burning sensation against the skin the moment he catched Byakuya’s eyes.

So. Out of all the people in the world, Makoto was bearing the initials of the one person who hated him. Guess he should be called the Ultimate Unlucky Student instead, it’d be way more fitting. Although… he could guess Byakuya didn’t feel too lucky either. If he had to take a guess, Byakuya probably wished he didn’t exist right now. No, the heir most likely wished _ Makoto _ didn’t exist right now.

The world’s unluckiest student ever sighed, and continued the only thing he could focus on right now. Tapping the damned pencil against his desk.


	7. Kamukura, Kamukura yas queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mukuro finally gets a chance to talk to her soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very cash money of you, Izuru

“He’s right there! You gotta make your move, Mukuro!”

And that was the story of how Junko, for the second time that week, pushed Mukuro out of her sweet and safe hiding spot behind the corner, right in front of Izuru Kamukura’s very eyes.  Not that she minded Junko telling her what to do, but they had just been eating lunch and Mukuro was _ just _ about to ask if Junko had maybe gotten her tattoo yet, then they had spotted Izuru, and the rest is history.

Mukuro didn’t use much effort to regain her balance, but that didn’t stop her from ending up in front of the boy in the black suit, as if she was planning on talking to him. Which she was not. If there was one thing she was worse at than… anything besides fighting, really, it was socializing. Taking people out was much easier, she didn’t get what the fuss about making friends was about, she already had Junko anyways.

But… if this boy, Izuru Kamukura, the Ultimate Hope, was really her soulmate, she should at least try and say something. Even if he didn’t even spare her a glance when she stumbled in front of him.

“Um,” she started ( _ woah, _ what a  _ great _ start, Mukuro- ),“Hey?”

He didn’t even look up from the book he was reading, only casually shifted in his seat on the bench. How rude, at least Mukuro acknowledged people when they were trying to talk to her - even if she was the absolute worst at talking.

Mukuro cleared her throat, trying again like the brave young woman she was, even if her voice remained calm; “Hello. You’re Izuru Kamukura, right?” 

And indeed, he seemed to recognize that name as he glanced up at her, the red irises of his eyes boring right into her soul, even if his face remained blank, bored even. All of a sudden Mukuro’s knees felt oddly wobbly, the insides of her stomach fluttering. As if his eyes were hypnotizing her, or at least that was the only explanation she could find.

“Do you want something?”

She realised she must’ve been staring back at him for a while, his expression having shifted to something resembling annoyance again. But his voice, she had just heard his voice. And… totally not paid attention as she had been lost in his eyes.

“Uh-” Mukuro rubbed the back of her neck, over the initials of maybe-possibly the boy she was standing in front of. “I’d… like to talk to you?”

“To me?”

“Y-yes.”

“Why?”

His voice, it had a bit of an edge to it. It was a bit hollow and a bit worn out, as if he had a sore throat. Maybe he did, or maybe he always talked like that. It sounded very bland, yet so unique, and… Mukuro had no idea why she was overthinking his voice in her head right now.

“I’m, uh… Mukuro Ikusaba.” 

She hoped that cleared up the situation, at least a little bit. After all, if he was her soulmate, then automatically she was his and he had to have her initials somewhere on his body. Would it be in the same spot as where she had hers? Because that’d be a difficult place to see to with the length of his hair and everything.

“Good to know, Mukuro Ikusaba,” he repeated, and she was sure he was going to continue by ignoring her again, but instead he closed his book, placing his hand over the cover. “Is that all?”

Deciding that now that she had started the conversation she wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, Mukuro took a seat on the bench, beside the boy (she bet Junko would have been proud if she was watching).

“No. I think you have something of mine,” she said, completely monotone. Honestly, she didn’t entirely know where she was going with this, but she just rolled with it.

The boy, Izuru, raised an eyebrow. It was barely noticeable, but she catched the movement.

“I do?”

“My… initials. Somewhere on your body.” Mukuro held her breath, pressing her knees together as she waited for him to react. Her knuckles turned white as she squeezed the hem of her skirt in her fists.

Instead of telling her that she was either right or completely insane like most people would, Izuru just looked at her. Looked at her, until he began leaning closer, and Mukuro had no idea where he was going with this.

When he brushed the hair off the back of her neck, she got an idea.

“Won’t you look at that,” he stated quietly, right before his fingers brushed her tattoo.

A sort of warmth burst through her skull, echoing throughout her entire head as if someone had just set off a bomb in there. Was this… pain? Mukuro wasn’t exactly familiar with the feeling, so all she knew to do in a situation like this was close her eyes to avoid the heat flashing behind them and squeeze the fabric of her skirt even harder. She could guess Izuru didn’t even flinch.

Opening her eyes one by one as the pain washed away, Mukuro could see a small, almost invisible smile on the boy’s lips as she glanced towards him. She had no idea what the pain was about, but she could only guess it was related to her soulmate mark. Junko had touched it before and nothing had happened, so this surely had to be some sort of a sign.

“Huh.” Izuru’s hand didn’t leave her neck, instead continued brushing over the letters, and with every move, Mukuro shivered. “I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised by this.” Having seen him do nothing but look bored every single time Mukuro had noticed him before, this brought a small smile on her face as well.

“So… we are soulmates,” she confirmed, pushing the thought of her future with Makoto being practically impossible now out of her mind. 

“It seems we are,” Izuru agreed, finally letting go of her neck. She couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed as the cool air replaced his warm fingers. He opened up his book again, turning away from her completely. 

“Are you-”

“I hope you don’t think this means anything.”

Ouch. A hit right in the heart. Sure, Mukuro hoped it didn’t need to mean anything, but just saying it out loud felt cruel. Had Izuru not heard of other people’s feelings before?

“It… doesn’t?” Mukuro asked.

“It doesn’t,” he confirmed. “I have no interest or time for a relationship, nor will I ever have. It’s boring,  _ you _ are rather boring.”

So it was going to be like that. 

Two could play that game, Mukuro could totally be a jerk back if necessary, because no one besides Junko was going to talk to her like that and get away with it. No, how  _ dare _ he? Mukuro gathered up her courage to talk to a total stranger - without even bringing any self-defense supplies with her - and he was going to treat her like that? Like some… boring object? Sure, he was probably right, but that didn’t mean she liked hearing it.

“Okay,” Mukuro struggled out, holding back a scoff. Letting go of her skirt, she got up from her seat, not daring to relax a single muscle. She spared the boy a final glance, but he wasn’t even looking at her. 

“Bye, Kamukura,” she muttered before walking off the scene, the initials on her neck burning with heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take two emotionally incapable human beings, make them soulmates, then make them hate each other- wait no-


	8. Students were harmed in the making of this chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi just won't get a break.

It should’ve been worrying how close Shuichi had been to getting panic attacks the past few days. Sure, Kaito had given both him and Maki a leave from training because of their bizarre blackout the other day, but that wasn’t all of Shuichi’s problems. No, not at all.

He had been in class before the bell rang, completely minding his own business, when Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid and Shuichi’s classmate, had come in and asked Shuichi to assist her with something that ended up being carrying books from the storage room to their homeroom. Nothing could go wrong with that, right?

_ Wrong. _

When Shuichi had returned with the maid, Angie Yonaga, Korekiyo Shinguji and Rantaro Amami were already in the classroom. Normal so far, until Kirumi got the chance to set the pile of books on a desk and Angie hopped on over to her, cheerful as ever, offering the maid a high five. There were hands colliding, and in a flash, both girls were on the floor, like their power had just been turned off with a switch.

Sadly, Shuichi knew all too well what the moment meant, and even if he hoped neither Kirumi nor Angie had more soulmates than each other, he was thankful Kaito had been nowhere in the classroom. The astronaut had come in after about five minutes, when Shuichi had, with the help of the other two boys in the classroom, helped Angie and Kirumi up, followed by the two running out of the class to the bathroom. Kaito could be heard making a joke about how girls always use the bathroom together.

That brings the events to the present, with Shuichi awkwardly sitting at his desk, trying to focus on a case file to maybe solve it in the near future, if he only could focus. Well, it wasn’t a real case, since reading about a real event of a mass murder that occurred at a nightclub would’ve made Shuichi nauseated, but it was one of the practice files Hope’s Peak wanted him to try his best techniques with, and he really did want to become a real detective one day.

Kaito, Korekiyo and Rantaro were still in the classroom, only now Himiko Yumeno, Ryoma Hoshi and Gonta Gokuhara having joined them. Kaito was chatting with Ryoma with the latter looking like he’d rather be getting murdered at a nightclub, and Korekiyo and Rantaro were whispering to each other as usual. Shuichi wondered if the two were perhaps soulmates, but he shouldn’t assume things. 

Yes, that was that, that was the present, and Shuichi was doing great. 

Until, well, he wasn’t.

The door to the classroom opened, but he didn’t look. If it was any of the people printed on his skin, he wouldn’t even dare to turn his head. There were steps behind him all of a sudden, and before Shuichi could realise his mistake of not looking, he could feel a warm breath against the back of his head as a happy and sweet voice came from behind him.

“Guess who-”

Two hands had covered his eyes before Kaede Akamatsu’s words got cut off.

It’s said that you’ll see your life flash before your eyes before you die. And Shuichi could, he really could see the major moments of his life from becoming a disappointment - also known as being born - to disappointing himself more with getting three soulmates, as the blinding pain flashed through him and suddenly he couldn’t see anything anymore.

His hands were curled in pain when he finally got ahold of his senses, the familiar suffering draining out of his veins without blinking. He was on his knees, at some point having fallen off the chair he was sitting in, with Kaede staring at him from the floor as well, eyes wide in shock.

“Shuichi, what the hell!?”

Right. Other people.

He looked up, meeting the wide eyes of Kaito, the surprised eyes of Rantaro and the narrowed ones of Korekiyo. Shuichi was prepared for another short film of his own life, until Kaito grabbed his arm and pulled him up while the other two boys helped Kaede on her feet.

“There’s really a seizure wave going on here, huh,” Rantaro chuckled, and Shuichi recognized his usual way of trying to make the situation more lighthearted than it was. He did that a lot. “What is this, Riverdale or something?”

“That’s two collapses in the span of two days, Shuichi! That’s two too much!” Kaito exclaimed, shaking his head as if he was disappointed. “You gotta take it easy and not take all the girls with you!”

Shuichi, not wanting to look Kaito straight in the eyes, instead made eye contact with Korekiyo, and instantly regretted it.

“Two collapses you say…?”

“Kiyo, maybe we should go check out if Angie and Kirumi are doing okay,” Rantaro laughed, a bit of an edge to his voice as he grabbed the anthropologist’s sleeve and started pulling him along.

As the boys left, Shuichi remembered the girl in the room. Kaede. He turned around, trying to stop his hands from trembling so uncontrollably.

“K-Kaede, are you, uh… okay?” he swallowed as he stuttered the question out. Of course she wasn’t okay, a guy like him had just made her black out.

Instead of looking disgusted or scared, Kaede smiled. Because that’s what she was, she was one of the sweetest people alive, and she’d die before being mean to someone on purpose. Her eyes flickered with the tiniest hint of sadness, but Shuichi couldn’t say his looked any different.

“I’m fine, Shuichi. I’m great, actually.”

“Oh, uh- that’s great, Kaede.” Could he be any more awkward? Man up, Saihara. “We, uh… we should probably talk… right?”

“I’d like that.”

“Okay, lovebirds,” Kaito cut in with a chuckle, “Class is starting in like, two mins, so no hooking up in the janitor’s closet,  _ ‘lright?”  _ It was a joke, sure, but that didn’t stop both Kaede and Shuichi exploding in fluster, cheeks blushing with crimson.

  
As more of his classmates, including both Maki _ and _ Kokichi Ouma, arrived in the room, Shuichi silently sat back down on his chair. He wouldn’t mind being one of the nightclub victims right now.


	9. N-Nagito Komaeda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been dead. Like,, so dead, and I'm sorry. I can't promise I'll be any more active but I had this short thing laying around in the docs so :'))

It was a special day. The wonderful headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy, Jin Kirigiri, was holding some sort of a speech in the main course gym, and both the main and the reserve course were supposed to attend it. Well, Nagito felt a bit on edge about the last part, but he couldn’t believe he would be lucky enough to see the ever so hopeful headmaster again.

And his classmates noticed it, too. He was being avoided a bit more than usual, most likely so they wouldn’t have to hear his annoying rambling. Sure, Gundham walked beside him towards the gymnasium, but he was deep into a conversation with Sonia, discussing rituals Nagito really knew nothing about.

It would be so wonderful to meet the person you’re destined to spend your eternal life with, and Gundham was so lucky to have her right there in his class. Mukuro too, even if her soulmate was… walking behind the entire class without interacting with anyone right now, she still had him there, in the same school with the chance of talking to him. Nagito had heard rumours that Akane and Nekomaru were soulmates as well, and he couldn’t bring himself to be surprised when they clung to each other almost every single second. Oh, how everyone else was so lucky.

Maybe the H on his ankle stood for Hope. That’d make sense, since Nagito still doubted anyone would ever genuinely love him. Well, he had come to accept that at least Mukuro and Gundham liked him enough to call him a friend (still very shocking every time he thought about it), but someone _ loving _ him, being _ in _ love with him, _ him, _ felt very much impossible. So, maybe his true soulmate was the hope within himself, within everyone. He didn’t know what the other H meant, though.

“Yo, Komaeda! Wait up!” 

Nagito turned his head, only to see the partners in crime, Akane and Nekomaru, running towards him. Akane was carrying a plastic bag, and he could already guess the contents of it included something edible.

“You were looking so alone over here, so we decided to cheer ya up a bit!” Nekomaru laughed as they reached him, slamming a hand against Nagito’s back in an attempt to pat it. “We brought some food too, assemblies are so boring without any!”

“Ahah, you really shouldn’t feel obligated to talk to me,” Nagito chuckled, recovering from the attack against his back that almost sent him flying straight to the ground. “Someone as unworthy as me deserves to be alone.”

Akane was already - almost comically - munching on a hot dog as she laughed. “Come on, let us do the good deed of the day, man!” Her voice was warning, and Nagito could guess she would start yelling at him if he kept insulting himself further.

“Sorry, sorry.”

  
“So, how about some jerky?” Nekomaru shoved a bag right in his face, the smell of dried meat invading his nostrils. “I’ve noticed you’ve gained some weight, you’re finally eating properly, huh?”

Nagito glanced down at his form. Still lanky and awkward, even with the main course uniform covering it. Had he really gained weight?

“Oh, right, you totally have!” Akane agreed, mouth still full.

Okay, maybe he was a bit rounder. He could see it. Maybe. 

“Good job, kid!” Before Nekomaru could slam him against his back again, Nagito laughed awkwardly and took a step to the side, barely missing the other boy’s enormous hand. Maybe he really was lucky. 

The faith proved his pathetic talent wrong yet again, as in his steps he ended up colliding with the other people walking towards the gymnasium, and from the corner of his eyes he recognized the reserve course uniform, and so his worries about his weight were wiped out by another kind of concern. 

Before Nagito could obey the yells of the lower worth -students telling him to back off, someone else from the reserve course walked past him, brushing shoulders with him by accident.

His long - apparently now rounder - legs let out beneath him before he could recognize he was now hurting, hurting with the power of a thousand suns, maybe. His head was aching, his ankle was aching and it was like he had just been thrown out to and eaten by the wolves. What was happening? Did someone really hurt him this much with their own shoulder?

Looking up to see the perpetrator, Nagito noticed another boy beside him, quickly scrambling up to his feet. 

And Nagito’s eyes met the ones of Izuru Kamukura.

Except they weren’t. No, it wasn’t the hopeful young man that was assigned to Nagito’s best friend, but it was someone who looked just like him. Green eyes, spiky brown hair and a reserve course -uniform, not to even get started on the actual emotion present on this face; shock. He looked just like Kamukura yet not like him at all.

Before Nagito could do anything - even open up his mouth, the line of depressed and impatient reserve course -students pushed the boy away from him, leaving the not-so-lucky-boy kneeling by himself on the pavement. Did he really- was he actually… _ What? _

There was no way someone from the reserve course could be his soulmate. Right? It was so crazy, after all, even if Nagito did have the worst talent ever, he was still an Ultimate worthy of another Ultimate… right? Oh, this was just his luck.

He had no strength to resist anymore as Nekomaru picked him up to his feet by his shoulders and urged him to move forward.

“Uhh, I think he’s having a stroke,” Akane could be heard saying.


	10. Star-crossed lovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mukuro gets her heart broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> super short chapter but guys!!! i actually want to finish this story!! i have so many ideas for this and i'm actually getting motivated to write again!! ayee

It was like any other day as Mukuro walked down the hallway of Hope’s Peak Academy during the lunch break instead of going to the roof. She did have plans with Nagito and Gundham, but Gundham had wanted to do an experiment with his hamsters and Nagito had wanted to go for a jog. He never jogged.

So, in the end, Mukuro was alone. Junko was nowhere to be seen, and for the first time in a while, Mukuro felt lonely. She couldn’t just join her classmates for lunch, she barely ever talked to them. And joining her soulmate was out of the question as well. Mukuro wouldn’t talk to that jerk even if someone paid her. Seemed like it was just her and her bento.

Until it wasn’t.

“Mukuro?”

She glanced up from where she was now sitting - on a bench in the hallway, sadly holding the chopsticks in her hand - and connected eyes with no one other than Makoto. Oh, Makoto. How she had missed daydreaming about him. 

Okay, Mukuro, this is your chance. Say something smart.

“A-am I in your way? I can move.”

Or say that.

Makoto’s sparkling eyes flew wide, quickly shaking his head: “N-no, of course not! I was going to ask if I can join you… to, you know, eat.” He showed off the lunch he had in his hands and smiled, melting Mukuro’s stone heart.

“Oh… yes, of course,” she nodded, not at all embarrassed.

The lucky boy sat next to her, placing his lunch on his lap. His warm aura made Mukuro feel safe. Glancing down to see what he was going to eat, she noticed a green bandage around his right middle finger.

“...Were you hurt?”

“O-oh, no! No, not at all!” Makoto quickly exclaimed, surprising even himself with that volume. Swallowing, he looked at his finger and then at Mukuro with a sheepish smile: “Mukuro, we’re friends… right?”

They weren’t. They weren’t by any means. She was a crushing stalker and he was an innocent and cute boy who occasionally smiled at her. But, ignoring the facts she knew, Mukuro nodded.

In response to that, Makoto exhaled and started peeling off the bandage. He bit his lower lip - most likely because of the pain - and Mukuro really wanted not to imagine herself biting his lip instead, but as expected; she failed. Oh, if Makoto only knew how she felt about him and how being near and thinking about him made her lose all of her other senses besides the ones being engulfed in his presence. She wasn’t even looking at his finger, just at his lips and at _ him, _ until Makoto turned his head to look at her, waiting for her reaction.

Quickly, Mukuro looked down only to look up again. She needed to repeat that a few times before realizing what she was looking at. And then a few times to make herself believe it was actually there.

“I’m pretty sure it stands for Togami…” Makoto chuckled nervously, showing off the ink on his finger.

Nevermind the entire fact that the initials Makoto had stood for someone who was probably even more of a jerk than Izuru Kamukura, Mukuro wanted to ask something else: “...You have a soulmate?”

“Well… I didn’t write those letters. So… I think so, yeah.”

Mukuro furrowed her brows, ignoring the whine that was escaping her heart. It felt like her soul had just left her body, her entire being had just collapsed within her, her goddamn hands let go of the chopsticks. This wasn’t the same type of pain she felt with Izuru the other day. This was something else.

Still, needing any other reason other than her being not good enough for Makoto, Mukuro tried to reassure herself: “...You’re gay?”

Makoto jumped: “W-what?! N-no, no, I’m not!” He looked panicked, quickly looking around the empty hallway as Mukuro picked up her utensils.

“But… Togami’s a boy. And… you’re a boy.”

“W-well, maybe I like boys too…? I don’t know, I’ve still had crushes on plenty of girls!”

That made sense, she guessed. What didn’t make sense however, was the way Mukuro was feeling. She knew her and Makoto could never happen because of Izuru, but knowing that Makoto was going to end up with someone else… it really hurt. Mukuro didn’t know another word for it. It hurt and it hurt and she didn’t know how to react.

“A-are you okay, Mukuro? You’re shaking-” Makoto tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but that hand wasn’t warm anymore. It wasn’t safe anymore. Instead, Mukuro stood up, almost crushing the bento between her hands as she forced her knees to straighten up.

“I’m fine. I hope… I hope you’ll be happy with Togami,” she mumbled, turning towards the hallway and starting to walk away.


	11. What happens in the art room stays in the art room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angie wants Shuichi to model for her.

_“_ _Shuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiichiiiiiiii!” _

Stopping in his tracks, the said boy turned around to see who was so eagerly trying to reach him. To his relief, it wasn’t anyone who could possibly be his soulmate, but it was Angie. Safe and sweet Angie, who already had gotten her own soulmate just the other day and insisted on calling everyone by their first name.

“Oh, hi Yonaga… What’s going on?” he said, feeling an odd sense of relief knowing that this was the first time in a while he had talked to someone whose initials were _ not _on his skin. Or, y’know, someone who wasn’t dating someone whose initials were on his skin.

“I need you to model for me,” Angie replied, swiftly grabbing his wrist and starting to pull him along before Shuichi had any opportunity to resist. 

“Wai- you need me to- to _ what?!” _ he squealed with all the pubescent voice crack -power he held within him as Angie dragged him towards the art room.

Before he knew it, they were standing in front of the sliding door to the room where all of Angie’s magic happened. Angie was pretty much the only one who used the art room, with her talent and all.

“You heard me, modeling. I wanna sculpt someone who’s… hmm, what’s the word?” the young artist pressed a finger against her chin, humming, “Right, _ twinkish! _ And you’re just the right type of guy!” 

  
“W-what?!”

“You don’t know what it means? Weeelll, you know, it’s like a more feminine kinda boy… like Kokichi, but Atua told me I don’t want to see him shirtless, and I trust Atua, so you’re the next best thing.” Angie smiled, not at all knowing the pure embarrassment she was making Shuichi go through at the moment.

“O-oh, w-well, I’m sorry, but I’d, I’d rather not-”

“Too late, Shuichi! You can’t stop me from expressing my talent!” she insisted, sliding the door open and yanking the poor poor detective inside. To even worsen his condition, as they entered, Shuichi could spot Rantaro and Korekiyo hanging in the art room, just looking at some of Angie’s paintings that were still drying.

Rantaro turned around as he heard them enter and waved his hand lazily: “Oh, hey Saihara. Haven’t seen you since you gave Kaede a stroke,_ hah,” _he laughed as Korekiyo squinted his eyes as if to inspect something deep within Shuichi’s soul. Shuichi didn’t entirely understand what Korekiyo was all about, and it honestly scared him.

“H-hi guys,” he tried as nonchalantly as possible. “What… what are you doing here?”

“Hanging out,” the green-haired one shrugged, “You?”

“Shuichi’s going to be my next model!” Angie chirped in, still holding onto the detective’s hand. “He’s gonna strip down and I’m gonna sculpt him!”

“S-strip down?”

“Yeah, shirt off, pants off! You can keep your boxers, though.”

Oh Jesus, oh Christ, how had Shuichi been dragged into this? He definitely couldn’t take his shirt off in front of the three. Well, there was a chance Rantaro and Korekiyo already knew as they were friends with Maki, but how would they react when they saw the other two initials? 

“Oh, I haven’t seen you sculpt yet, Yonaga,” Rantaro let out a laugh, before turning towards Shuichi. “Mind if we stick around?”

“N-no, of course not!” he yelped before he could literally think for a single second. Why would he say that? What was wrong with him? Lord, someone come and end his suffering already.

“Okay, then. Shuichi can strip down while I get all my supplies,” Angie smiled before fleeing to the back room of the actual art room, the place they kept some of the supplies, like clay.

Now, left standing there in the middle of the room, Shuichi had no idea what to do. So he began unbuttoning his jacket as slowly as humanly possible.

“Didn’t know you were one to strip in front of girls,” Rantaro glanced at him with a smirk.

“That’s not what I- I, uh- that’s-”

“It was a joke,” he chuckled. “Don’t worry, we can leave if you’re uncomfortable.”

“We wouldn’t want to expose any… hidden secrets, would we?” Korekiyo joined in as he leaned against the wall.

“W-what!?” Shuichi squealed. Not his proudest moment. “I don’t have- I don’t have any secrets…”  
  


The other two boys shared a look, like they knew _ exactly _what Shuichi’s secret was.

“Okay, we believe you,” the green-haired one shrugged. “Feel free to keep stripping down for Yonaga.”  
  


And that he did, for some unknown reason that left the gods wondering why Shuichi’s mom didn’t have an abortion before it was too late. He placed his jacket, shoes and his trousers on one of the desks, now left standing in a button up, boxer shorts and socks. He wasn’t sure he would be safe from a panic attack if he continued, even if the other boys weren’t even looking at him, but discussing one of Angie’s paintings still drying.

“I find it quite intriguing how the subject is something so despairful, yet all the brush strokes consist of little smiley faces,” Korekiyo commented, to which Rantaro nodded in agreement.

Carrying in a huge pile of clay along with an apron, Angie came back to the room, all smiles and happiness.

“Awh, Shuichi, I didn’t know you were that slow,” she frowned all of a sudden as she looked Shuichi’s not-totally-undressed body up and down before settling the supplies on a desk. “I need the shirt off to get an accurate representation.”

“F-fine,” he swallowed one last time before reaching for the top buttons of his dress shirt. _ He wasn’t going to die, he wasn’t going to die, he wasn’t- _ he wasn’t going to die.

Finally pulling the shirt off his chest, he placed it on top of his clothes as Angie inspected him up and down. 

“As Atua thought, you’re just the right fit!” Angie smiled, making Shuichi a bit more reassured knowing she most likely couldn’t see the letters from the distance she was at.

“I especially like the three soulmate-tattoos you got going on over your collarbones.”

That made Rantaro and Korekiyo turn around to look at their direction, and on a whim Shuichi threw a hand over his chest to cover the markings, but he knew it was already a lost game. The boys made swift movements to get closer, no doubt wanting to see it for themselves.

“Three tattoos? How curious,” Korekiyo said, smiling through his mask.

“Didn’t take you for a player, Saihara.”

“I- it’s not what it looks like-” he tried, knowing it was _ exactly _ what it looked like.

“You must know you need to show us who they are now, right?” Rantaro grinned. “I mean, it’s only fair.”

Shuichi was quite sure he had no other option than to show them, as he couldn’t just run away in just his boxers - he’d get expelled.

“C-can you promise not to tell anyone?”

“Of course,” Korekiyo nodded, to which both Rantaro and Angie agreed to as well.

Sighing, Shuichi dropped the arm from his collarbones and revealed the tattoos in all their glory to his classmates.

“KA… Kaede, obviously. Explains your freaky seizure the other day. MH… wait,” Rantaro glanced up, as well as Angie and Korekiyo who were leaned over to read Shuichi’s chest too, “Maki? Like… Momota’s girlfriend and our best friend Maki?”

He gulped: “Yeah… we had the… same kind of seizure thing as with Kaede… but the last-”

“Kokichi?” Angie blurted out, quickly covering her mouth. “Oh, _ Shuichiii. _You poor thing.”

“Indeed,” Rantaro chuckled dryly. He straightened his back and took a few steps back as if to inspect Shuichi’s chest even further.

“I don’t know why this is happening to me. I mean- it’s not like I’ve done anything that big that the world would punish me for…”

“This sure is quite the tricky situation…” Korekiyo said.

“Uhm, you- you’re smart, Shinguji. Is this normal? Can they really all be there, and even from the same class as us? This doesn’t feel real.”

“Well… it depends if you think that the decisions you make in your life affect who your soulmate is, or if you think it’s decided beforehand. Since, if they are just randomly decided, the chance is almost impossible for them to be someone who also goes to Hope’s Peak, or even someone you'll ever meet. If you believe the former, it is quite possible that two of the marks will vanish with time, once the world is sure about the best match for you,” he hummed.

“Period,” Rantaro added.

Angie’s eyes lit up. “Like me and Kirumi! I didn’t think it’d be possible for my soulmate to even live in Japan, but here we are!”

Shuichi nodded, steadying his breath. “Okay, okay, so… I haven’t done anything wrong. I won’t have to deal with Ouma for the rest of my life. Kaito won’t beat me up once he finds out.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Rantaro laughed.

“Wait, what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi's just a huge ball of anxiety at this point tbh


	12. The lowly life of a reserve course student

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hajime spends some bonding time with his twin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter but!!! I finally got to write my best boy!!! Hajime rights!!

It wasn’t easy, attending the reserve course.

First of all, your family has to pay a shit ton of money to even get you through your education. Second, the main course students despise you and the other reserve course students hate you because of your successful twin - brother, twin, clone, whatever - and avoid you because of that, leaving you with no friends and a crappy self-esteem.

All of those things were normal for Hajime Hinata, having to live like this every day for the past two years. He could blame that on his ambition, like he did, or on his mind thinking he’s worthy of the title of an Ultimate, like he did, but in the end, it wouldn’t change a thing.

However, a certain thing did change one day, as some main course student he didn’t know about ran straight into him while on their way to some sort of a pep rally. It hurt, more than it should’ve hurt, and being the smart student one needed to be to even get into the reserve course, Hajime knew what the pain meant.

“So. This tall main course student with big white hair and skinny legs. Name might start with an N. Does it ring a bell?” Hajime asked, sitting on the ground behind the Academy with his lunch in his lap one day, his twin sitting beside him with exactly two feet of space between them. The initials of NK were hidden beneath his uniform, pressed right on his left hip bone.

“Why do you ask?” Izuru motherfucking Kamakura, the Ultimate Hope, the Ultimate Perfection in shape of a man with everything possible in his life going good for him, questioned.

“Just answer.” He hadn’t dragged him there for a friendly chat, and he certainly wasn’t up for Izuru’s usual games - no matter how many times he claimed Hajime was too  _ boring  _ to play games with.

“Nagito Komaeda.”

_ “Eh?” _

“You are talking about Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student. He won the lottery to attend Hope’s Peak Academy when we first enrolled,” Izuru explained, as if he was talking to a child.

“He’s in your class? I-is it a he?”

“Yes, and yes. Why?”

Oh. So Hajime’s soulmate was a guy. How great, as if people didn’t judge him for the other aspects of his life enough. He didn’t get a good chance to look at him well enough to determine if the boy was even cute before the other students dragged him away.

“No reason,” Hajime sighed, ignoring his lunch and pressing his head against his drawn up knees. He probably wouldn’t even see the guy again. After all, he was in the main course, Hajime just in the reserve one.

Izuru let out something resembling a chuckle, yet it was much much more cynical. “He’s your soulmate, isn’t he.” It didn’t even sound like a question, as if he already knew the answer.

“A-and what if he is?! You have a problem with that, _ brother?”  _ Hajime spat out, snapping his head up and glaring at him. “Are you jealous because I have a soulmate, is that it?”

Izuru blinked. And then he chuckled again. “I couldn’t be jealous of you. Besides, I already have a soulmate as well.” He shook his head lightly before looking away from him.

“Y-you do?”

“Mukuro Ikusaba. She’s a year younger. The Ultimate Soldier.”   
  
“Poor girl,” Hajime laughed. “Having to deal with you, marry you, carry your babies, has to be awful. How many times have you made her cry so far?” Hajime tried, doing his best to get under his skin, just to irritate him once, just once.

“I don’t care about her. She’s boring.” He failed.

How very heartless of him, Hajime thought, but he wasn’t surprised. In the moment, he felt as if he could actually beat his brother at something. Izuru was cold, emotionless and antisocial, meanwhile Hajime was… well, all of those things but to a shorter extent. He actually felt sad, angry,  h̶o̶r̶n̶y̶ , at times. He knew how to talk to people, to get friends, if he really tried. He could maybe fall in love faster than his twin.

“Hey, Izuru?”

“...Yes, Hajime?”

“Would you find a bet boring?”

When his brother didn’t respond, Hajime continued.

“How about we bet on which one of us kisses our soulmate first?” he asked, grinning. He could do it, he believed he could do it. “It needs to be with consent, you aren’t allowed to just steal it.”

“...Huh.” Izuru looked at him, raising an eyebrow the tiniest bit. “What would the winner get?”

Hajime thought about it. 

“The loser… has to drop out of Hope’s Peak Academy,” he said, smiling behind his poker face of a mask as he dreamed about the nice future without having to live in Izuru’s shadow.

“Hm, challenge accepted, then,” Izuru replied.


	13. Rantaro was right not to be sure about that

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi gets punched in the face.

“I hate gym class, since when do _ Ultimates _ have to attend these things?”

“Since guys like you started to get fat just eating chips in the dorms and not attending class.”

“Well that was just uncalled for!”

Shuichi sighed as their seniors - the Ultimate Mechanic and Yakuza, he recognized - argued over the finished PE class all the male students of Hope’s Peak Academy had just shared. Basically it was just running laps, Shuichi being one of the last and almost crying over it, and lastly a huge round of dodgeball. He didn’t find the fact fair that people such as the Ultimate Baseball Star, Team Manager and other people who were at the top of their fitness skill were playing as well. He’s just glad he wasn’t the first one to be hit. Only the fourth.

“Shuichi, you good? You’ve been staring off to space for a bit.” Kaito smacked him with a _ moist _towel, and Shuichi quickly snapped back a step. The astronaut laughed. “You need to hurry up and shower, yeah?”

“Uh- yeah. I’m just waiting for the majority to… you know. _ Leave. _ You can go ahead without me,” he smiled reassuringly at his _ just oblivious enough _ -friend, who just shrugged and continued buttoning his uniform back up in return. Soon enough, Kaito was gone.

And soon enough, Shuichi had showered and pulled his uniform back on in the privacy that was just him and some other self-conscious students who wouldn’t focus on his chest when he was shirtless. There was this other guy who stayed back to shower, a scary-looking boy with long dark hair and red eyes - and Shuichi was sure he’d beat the shit out of him just for fun if Shuichi happened to speak to him. Lucky for him, he was too anxious to even consider it.

  
  


_____

  
  
  


As Shuichi left the locker room, he found Kaito and _ Maki _talking right around the corner. Her hair was in two braids, probably from the gym class the girls shared in the inside gym just now. He froze. 

“Are you serious?”

“...Yes. I’m sorry, Kaito.”

Maki was quick to spot Shuichi standing quite a few feet behind Kaito, and she furrowed her brows. Nudging her head to the other direction - a clear sign to get the_ hell _out of there - she looked back at Kaito.

“I just… don’t find it fair to drag you along like this, especially when…” her voice fell to the volume of a whisper; “we’re not even soulmates.”  
  


Shuichi gulped, realising finally what Maki was doing. Taking the next step. Because she thought she and Shuichi were destined to be together and now she was ending her relationship with the person who _ wasn’t _ her soulmate, like any normal person would, but she didn’t have any idea it wouldn’t necessarily be that simple. 

“Huh? What do you mean?”

He clutched his hands into fists and turned around, forcing himself to start walking until he left the country. And after a while, he started calming down. By the time he reached their homeroom, all was well in the world.

By the time Kaito reached their classroom, however - hands balled into fists and almost growling like some wild animal as Maki ran in behind him - Shuichi knew he was doomed.

The majority of the girls were gathered around Miu Iruma’s desk in the front to discuss something, Kokichi was snickering at Kiibo in the back and Korekiyo and Rantaro were together as usual, but all of them turned around to see what was going on as Kaito stormed over to Shuichi’s desk and tugged him up by his collar. For a second, Shuichi was sure the fabric would rip.

“So you think you can just steal my girlfriend, Saihara?!” He yelled in his face. “That’s not what bros do, _ IS IT?!” _

Shuichi’s eyes went wide at the sight of his friend engulfed in rage and he tried pushing him away, to no avail. Both their hands were shaking.

_ “Kaito, you-” _

“No, you fucking reply to me when I ask you something!”

Maki stepped in then, grabbing Kaito’s hand and ripping it away from Shuichi’s shirt. “You don’t need to act like a kid, Kaito. It’s not his fault.” 

  
“Not his fault? Not his _ damn _fault that you just broke up with me?!”

A gasp left the rest of the class in unison, like in a comedy show.

“No, it’s not. So give it up.” Maki glared at him as she crossed her arms.

“Fine, fine, I will,” Kaito sighed, letting go of Shuichi and stepping back. He took a breath of relief, even with the two wrinkled up spots left at the front of his shirt. 

Kaito had turned around almost three quarters, lulling Shuichi to the false sense of security, when he swiftly turned back and punched Shuichi right in the nose, sending the detective tumbling down on the floor. First he hit his ass against the ground, then the back of his head.

  
“Kaito!” Maki almost yelled, dropping to her knees to help Shuichi and slipping a hand under his aching head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m not the one who kept the secret about being soulmates with my best friend hidden for a month,” Kaito gritted through his teeth, and another gasp and a crowd of ‘oh’s left the group.

“Don’t you think that maybe I kept it hidden because I _ knew _you’d react like this?”

“Yeah, because I don’t have the right to be mad.”

“Do you think we_ chose _to be soulmates, Kaito? Do you really think that?”

“I don’t even know what to think anymore, you slu-”

“Okay, okay, let’s calm down a bit, okay?!” Rantaro chimed in the conversation all of a sudden, hand slapped over Kaito’s mouth before he could say anything he couldn’t take back. “I’ll take Kaito outside to calm down a bit, ha,” he laughed calmly before continuing to do as he said, Gonta following the two out - just in case.

Meanwhile, Shuichi’s nose was gushing out blood on the floor, and Kaede was quick to get off Miu’s desk and bring him a wet paper towel. She gave him a sympathetic smile, but anyone could tell she was shaken and hurt and confused from the news she just received.

Everyone was quiet for a second, just a second, before exploding into chatter.

“How could she not tell him something so serious?” Tsumugi was heard saying.

Himiko shrugged; “I mean...he almost called her a slut.”  
  


“Saihara’s such a fuckboy, though. I mean, going after his best friend’s chick? Not cool.”

“What a truly shocking revelation. I certainly didn’t expect it to go down like this.”

_ “Draaamaaaaa.” _

_ “Aaawww mann, _ Shuichi’s in twouble!”

Shuichi sat up, letting all of the blood flow onto the paper as he tried to regain some excuse of a composure. When he finally looked up, he faced his classmates, their eyes full of sympathy - and judgement.

“Of course a degenerate like you would keep something like that a secret. Maki, not cool,” Tenko glared at them, hands on her hips.

“Seriously, Tenko, you’re on Momota’s side?” Himiko asked. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised…”  
  
“H-Himiko, what do you mean by that!?!”

And just like that, the entire class was arguing on whether they were on Maki and Shuichi’s or Kaito’s side. Shuichi’s head throbbed, and as Maki helped him back on his feet, he could see Kokichi leaving the classroom from the corner of his eye. The boy would most likely take Kaito’s side, and so would Kaede. Not that Shuichi blamed them.

“Are you okay? Do I need to take you to see Tsumiki?” Maki asked.

“N-no, I think I’ll be fine. I’ll just, uh, go back to my dorm and lay down for a bit. My head’s still spinning.”


	14. Why do good boys like bad guys?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuya and Makoto go to get coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally ran out of ideas for the ending of the chapter so I will figure it out the next time I write either of their povs :((

Makoto didn’t exactly feel confident striking up a conversation with Byakuya after the way Mukuro had reacted to his news. He was sure he’d get an unbiased opinion from her - with the way she was honest and unfazed and everything - but she had just turned strange after Makoto had told her.

Maybe it had something to do with his soulmate being Byakuya. After all, a lot of people didn’t like him. Makoto didn’t even know if he himself liked Byakuya.

Entering the library, the first thing the lucky student saw was Toko Fukawa staring at something from behind a bookcase. That something was Byakuya, of course. Her crush on him was very very obvious, and Makoto knew even the heir was aware of it.

He was sitting down, reading a book. No one besides the three of them was inside of the library. 

Makoto took a breath of encouragement, trying to convince himself the conversation would turn out good. Well, as good as it could with Toko listening to them just six feet away.

“Hi, Togami,” he smiled as he walked over to the boy.

In response, Byakuya glanced up from his book and gave him a small nod before looking back down. Well, that was at least better than how Byakuya would  _ completely _ ignore Makoto during their first year.

“So… I was wondering,” the lucky boy started as he took a seat from the table near Byakuya, “do you maybe want to do something with me later? Like… get some coffee after school?”

“...And why would I do that?” the heir asked, flipping the page. The cover had small golden letters printed on it, too small for Makoto to make sense of them.

“...Because. You know.” He really hoped Byakuya knew what he was getting at. He must’ve known, right?

The blonde closed his book, sighing before finally looking him in the eyes. Byakuya’s eyes were so blue, like the sky during summer without a single cloud. Or the lit up castle at Disneyland during the night. Or the-

“You don’t like coffee.”

“Huh?” Makoto blinked, zoning out of the heir’s eyes to actually focus on his face. “How did you-”

“I’ve heard you say it in class.”   
  
“Oh, well… it’s not like I actually have to drink coffee, I just didn’t have any other ideas,” he chuckled, just the tiniest bit surprised Byakuya remembered anything he said.

“So you want me to come have coffee with you, but you aren’t even going to drink it?”

“It’s just an expression!” Makoto exclaimed, sighing as he looked down. This was going to be hopeless, wasn’t it? “You can just say no if you don’t want to come.”

“You have yet to give a good reason for me to come,” Byakuya replied.  _ God. _

“Because-” Makoto glanced behind his back, catching a glimpse of one of Toko’s braids disappearing behind the bookcase. He was quite sure the girl might kill him if he said it outloud. “...I want to be friends with you?”

“I don’t have time friends, nor do I want any. You need to come up with something better than that.” The taller of the two rolled his eyes.

_ “Bya-kuya,” _ Makoto said slowly, trying to ignore how hard the other was trying to annoy him.

“Ma- _ koto,”  _ he responded, first name -basis as well.

“You’re coming to drink coffee with me.”

  
  


_______

  
  


Turns out Byakuya appreciates persistence. Or maybe he doesn’t, maybe he just wanted Makoto off his back. On a second thought, it was definitely the second option. Whichever it was, Byakuya was now seated across from Makoto at a cafe the heir had scrunched his nose at the second they arrived.

People had stared at them, when they walked in, no doubt because of Byakuya’s fame. Makoto had thought of the boy as a celebrity at first too - as well as most of his class - but at some point during their first year he had realized they’re all worth the same. He knew Byakuya didn’t think the same, though.

“I can’t believe you’d take me somewhere where I have to go out of my way to order for myself.”

“That’s-  _ wait. _ Togami, have you never been to a cafe before?” Makoto raised his eyebrows as he leaned his elbows against their table. 

Byakuya had actually _ not  _ ordered for himself, because when Makoto listed a bunch of options he could order, he just nodded at the one he wanted - a black coffee - and left Makoto to do the actual ordering at the register. The boy himself got a hot chocolate and a croissant.

“Obviously I haven’t. I have standards,” Byakuya scoffed. Makoto held back a frown.

“I mean… you might not get a full meal here, but at least you don’t need a reservation and it’s pretty cheap,” he chuckled.

“Neither of those are an issue for me. The Togami name gets me on top of the list anywhere I wish to go.”

Of course.

“I guess you’re right.” Makoto looked down at his lap, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his uniform jacket.

“Naegi, since you have already dragged me all the way, I’m curious…”

When Byakuya didn’t continue after almost a minute, Makoto forced himself to look up and meet the piercing blue eyes. The heir didn’t look as sick of him as before.

“When did you notice it?”

“H-huh?” He scratched his chin. “Oh, you mean the mar-”   
  


“Obviously I mean… _ that. _ Now answer me.”

“About a week ago, I guess?” Makoto chuckled nervously, starting to tap his feet against the ground. “In class, when… our eyes met.”

Byakuya sighed, propping his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger. “I should’ve known you aren’t the observant type. I’ve been aware of it since before this semester began.”

“You have?!” Makoto exclaimed and Byakuya instantly glared at him, making him flush red. “Y-you have?” he asked but quieter, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why would I?” he scoffed, and it almost hurt. Nope, it definitely hurt a bit. Makoto tried to talk to Byakuya - or at least began gathering his courage - ever since he found out, yet the other didn’t even try.

“Because we’re soulmates?” Makoto almost whispered, looking at the heir from under his lashes. His arms were crossed, and Makoto could almost swear he was as nervous as Makoto himself.

“Actually, we don’t know that for a fact. We have each other’s initials, yes, but that does not mean they couldn’t stand for anyone else,” Byakuya stated slowly and calmly, as if he was talking to a little kid.

“How can we find out, though?” he asked. “Is there some sort of a sign? Because if there isn’t, it’d be almost impossible to ever know if someone is your soulmate.”

“I guess you must figure that out, then,” the heir shrugged as the cafe worker brought them their drinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing byakuya is hard


	15. Call me Ted Mosby because I sure do love lists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mukuro actually gets Izuru to spend time with her.

“Junko. Come on. I don’t even want to talk to him,” Mukuro frowned.

“Who cares?? I want you to talk to him, so you’re gonna do it,” Junko pursed her lips like an annoyed child. “Aren’t you,  _ sis?” _

“I-” Mukuro blinked, accepting her faith, “...Fine, but he’ll just be rude again.”

“Not with this list he won’t!”

Junko presented her the finished piece of paper titled  _ ‘Why Izuru Kamukura should get to know Mukuro Ikusaba :3’.  _ It had five points, and Mukuro had to admit that at least two of them were very good reasons.

“...I’m not sure he will like the emoji.”

“I’ll just change it to uwu instead,” Junko shrugged, erasing the smiley with the eraser on the back of her pencil. The pencil had the logo of a famous fashion company on it. Mukuro was pretty sure Junko had stolen it.

“It’s like you want us two together more than I do.”

“Because I want my little sister to be happy,  _ duh!!” _

“I’m actually the older-”

“No chit-chatting! We need to catch up to him before he locks himself in his dorm!” Junko insisted, grabbing Mukuro’s arm and pulling her up from her seat. They left the classroom bathing in the afternoon sun, and instead began running down the hallways.

Mukuro wished they could actually do something other than always talk about Izuru, but it seemed like a lost cause at this point. She  _ never  _ got the chance to ask Junko about her love life.

Eventually Junko stopped as they reached the senior dorms, Izuru’s name decorating the door they were standing in front of. Mukuro’s arm ached from how hard Junko was gripping it, with her nails and everything.

“Is it really okay for me to… go inside a boy’s dorm room?”

“It’s not like you two are gonna get freaky or anythin’,” Junko chuckled, before freezing and staring at her. “Or are you? Are you keeping something a secret from me, Mukuro?”

“N-no, I didn’t mean it like that!” Mukuro insisted as her cheeks blushed, pulling her arm free with no effort. “I doubt he’ll even let me in.”

Junko grinned. “Weeeeeeelll, we’ll see about that!” she giggled before knocking - though it resembled banging more - on the door three times. And before Mukuro knew it, the list was in her own hands and Junko had slipped around the corner.

Mukuro swallowed nervously, gripping the piece of paper with two hands. The more she read through it, the more stupid all the points seemed. As if the Izuru Kamukura she had talked to before would care about a dumb list, or even bother opening his door at all.

Turns out she was wrong, as eventually the door  _ did  _ open, Izuru standing on the other side with his suit still on. He looked a bit tired. 

“...What do you want?”

“H-hey, Izuru.” Mukuro presented her most girly smile - like when she and Junko used to practice dressing up and pretending to be each other (it ended in Junko saying she couldn’t bind her chest tight enough to pass as Mukuro) - in hopes of sparking an emotion in his eyes. It didn’t. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“No.”

How rude. Still insisting, she clenched her jaw and raised the list. “But I will. And here, I have a list of reasons you should talk to and get to know me as well.” 

Izuru didn’t respond, so Mukuro didn’t either. She just stood there, looking up at him the ten centimeters they had in their height difference.

“...Well? I’m waiting,” he finally replied, leaning against the doorframe instead of letting Mukuro in. She could work with that.

“W-well. For one, we’re soulmates. Two, it’d be less boring than your life right now, as you don’t talk to anyone,” Mukuro started, reading straight from the list instead of looking him in the eyes. “Three, you wouldn’t have to eat lunch alone anymore. Four, I’m very good at braiding, so I could braid your hair if you so wished. A-and five…”

He glanced at her.

“My sister’s hot.” It did make a very compelling argument in her own opinion.

“And I care about your sister because?”

“B-because she’s pretty, so, uh… if we hung out, she could also be there, and… you could look and talk to her?”

Izuru blinked. It looked like a very judgemental blink and Mukuro had no idea what he was going to do next. Close the door in front of her face? Ask for Junko’s number? He let nothing pass his stone-cold facade. 

“...How long are you planning to live in your sister’s shadow?”

_ “H-huh?” _

He sighed, stepping away from the door so Mukuro could walk in, and so she did. Izuru closed the door behind them.

His room was bland, just like her room was, but the wallpaper was black instead of the bright monstrosity everyone else had. There was a small couch against the wall, and Mukuro decided sitting on that would be the safest bet. She  _ definitely _ wasn’t sitting on a boy’s bed or anything.

Izuru sat next to her, looking down at the floor. It seemed they were both lost on what to do next. The bright blue tiling almost made her feel sick.

“So…” Mukuro laughed nervously, kicking her feet around. This wasn’t what she signed up for when she became a soldier.

“Do you want to kiss me?”

_ “What?!”  _ she shrieked, sliding further away from him. He wasn’t some sort of a pervert, was he? Mukuro hadn’t even thought she’d get this far in their relationship, and she hadn’t even thought about kissing!

“It was just a question,” he shrugged, still looking bored as ever.

That definitely wasn’t a normal question! Mukuro swallowed, rolling her shoulders back and trying her best not to let her eyes meet his lips because that would definitely make the situation awkward. “T-thank you for the offer, but I’d rather not. A-at least not yet. I mean-”

He nodded. “As you wish.” And so a silence fell upon them. You could hear the clock ticking, the couch whining as Mukuro shifted her position, even their blood streaming. This was going to drive her crazy.

“...Do you have any board games?”

“...Yes.”

“Do you maybe want to play something?”

He looked at her with the corner of his eye, as if her entire request was stupid. 

“Sure,” he sighed, “but I’ll win.”

  
  



	16. It's you that I lie with

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korekiyo and Rantaro wake up together. As usual.

Rantaro came to in somebody else’s bed with someone’s arms wrapped around him. 

It wasn’t unusual, especially the part where his legs were wrapped around that person’s torso and his face pressed against their chest. In fact, he would’ve considered this his new normal.

Ever since him and Korekiyo had become friends - one of the best decisions of his life - almost daily sleepovers at each other’s dorms had become a part of their routine. They didn’t really plan them, no, but they had so much to talk about, and suddenly it was always too late for the other to sneak back to their own room.

So, when Rantaro fully comprehended he was hanging onto Korekiyo like a sloth onto a tree, he didn’t feel the smallest bit awkward. He was actually a bit surprised, since usually Korekiyo was the first one to wake up and make sure they both got to class on time. If they planned to attend, that is.

“Hey, Kiyo…” Rantaro mumbled - still tired - as he tried to pull away, his efforts proving to be futile as Korekiyo’s arms wouldn’t budge. He looked up, seeing the sleeping face of his best friend with his mask still on. Shaking his head, Rantaro leaned up and closer to the boy’s ear, the other’s hair tickling his nose.  _ “Kiiyooo,  _ you’re ice cold. I’m freezing.”

“Mhm… you’re ice hot,” the other mumbled, his face turning to face the mattress.

“We’ll be late for class, we don’t want to miss any Saihara and Momota drama,” Rantaro tried again with a chuckle. Finally, Korekiyo seemed to get the message and his other arm left Rantaro’s waist so he could rub his eyes with his hand. The loss of contact made him shiver more than the initial touch.

“Whew, _ warmth,”  _ the shorter of the two yelped dramatically, rolling away to check his phone on the nightstand. It was 10am on a Saturday. “Oh, it’s the weekend. No class.” He looked back at Korekiyo, who was sitting up and yawning. “Are you gonna go home?”

“No… I don’t feel like going,” he replied before throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up. His uniform shirt had wrinkled and ridden up his torso during their nightly cuddles, revealing a small patch of his back - and his pale skin. Good thing they had at least slept in their boxers, because having to iron their uniform trousers would’ve been a bitch.

“What are you looking at?” 

  
Rantaro’s eyes snapped back up at Kiyo, the latter having turned around during Rantaro’s staring.

“Your ass. Very nice, a solid eight out of ten,” he grinned, forcing himself to sit up and snag his phone away from the charger as well.

It wasn’t a surprise the other didn’t reply, only rolled his eyes before walking towards the bathroom. The door was closed and locked behind him, leaving Rantaro alone in the anthropologist’s room.

He knew he wasn’t going home if he had the chance to spend the weekend with Korekiyo, so there was no need to call his dad - or one of his dad’s drivers - to pick him up. Instead, he unbuttoned his shirt so he could steal one of Kiyo’s more comfy shirts - if he owned those.

It was odd, at least according to the others, how easily the two had become friends. As if they had known each other forever. Rantaro didn’t really get it either, but he knew it was easy to be himself around Kiyo, and Rantaro believed Kiyo could be himself around him as well.

“Hey, Kiyo,” he called out as he started going through the drawers where the other boy kept his clothes. “Whose side are you on? In this whole love triangle?” He found a t-shirt that he was pretty sure belonged to him (way to stay organized, Rantaro) and pulled it over his head.

The toilet flushed, the faucet ran, and Korekiyo stepped out of the bathroom with his hair in a low ponytail.

“How come?”

“Just wondering,” Rantaro shrugged, smiling at the other’s hairdo.

“I can see both sides, but I must admit Momota was too rash to my liking and took it too personally. Saihara and Maki did not decide to be soulmates.”

“Wouldn’t it be great?” Rantaro chuckled, getting dressed in his uniform trousers as Kiyo followed his lead in dressing up as well. “Getting to decide who your soulmate is?”

“...But I’d feel quite bad for Yumeno.”

The shorter laughed.

“Good point, but… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels kinda cruel, not getting to choose your own faith.”

“Are you hiding something from me,  _ hm? _ Is there something you haven’t told me?” Korekiyo looked at him with curiosity.

“No, it’s not like that-” Rantaro insisted, sitting down on the mess of a bed. “I mean- look at Tenko, she’s so miserable, and if Yumeno really isn’t her soulmate, she’s gonna get her heart broken because she’s already in love with her.”

Korekiyo zipped his trousers up, over his bandaged legs. Rantaro had never asked why he wore them. “Human emotions are so beautiful,” he hummed, sitting down beside the other. “Truly magnificent.”

“Kiyo.”

“Ah, sorry. Whose side are you on?”

“Well, like you said, I get both sides. I think Momota has the right to be upset, but he shouldn’t take it out on ‘em. Plus, Maki’s our friend, so we have to have her back.”

“I wonder if everyone thinks that rationally.”

“Oh, I know for a fact they don’t,” he shook his head. “But, guess we’ll get some action into our Hope’s Peak days now. Especially with our friend Saihara having two other soulmates.”

“Ah, yes, because the Ultimate Adventurer has such an ordinary life otherwise.”

“Touché,” Rantaro chuckled, leaning over to rest his head on Korekiyo’s shoulder. 

He was really happy he could show affection like this to his best friend, especially when he knew Kiyo didn’t really like showing pda with anyone else. It made Rantaro feel… important, lucky, maybe? Knowing he was the only one who could cuddle Kiyo during the night, or hold his hand on the way to class… or braid his hair whenever he wanted or….

“Are you with me?”

“Oh, yeah! I’m with you,” Rantaro blinked himself back to the present moment, nuzzling Kiyo’s neck to make him extra sure. “What’s up?”

“I was going to suggest we go get some breakfast.”

“Sounds good to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever try to write something that's more than 1k words but your brain says nope it's gotta be almost exactly 1k


End file.
